Malala 'stable' after five-hour operations

Malala Yousufzai - Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban is in a stable condition after two operations to reconstruct her skull and restore her hearing.

The hospital treating Malala Yousufzai has confirmed that she underwent surgery on Saturday. The procedures carried out at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham were a cranial reconstruction and cochlear implantation.

Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital said doctors for 15-year-old Malala Yousufzai, who was targeted for advocating girls' education, were "very pleased" with her progress after five hours of skull reconstruction and ear surgery on Saturday.

Malala Yousufzai is awake and talking to staff and members of her family after having cranial reconstruction.
Both operations were a success and Malala is recovering in hospital. Her condition is stable and her medical team are “very pleased”.

The teenager drew the world's attention by being shot and critically wounded by Taliban militants on October 9, as she walked home from school in northwestern Pakistan. The Islamist group said they targeted her because she promoted girls' education and "Western thinking" and criticized the militant group's behavior when it took over the scenic Swat Valley where she lived.

A bullet was removed from her head by surgeons in Pakistan, before she was flown to the UK for further treatment.

Malala was airlifted to Britain from Pakistan in October to receive specialized medical care and protection against further Taliban threats. She is expected to remain in the UK for some time after her father, Ziauddin, was given a diplomatic post based in the English city of Birmingham.

So far, doctors say she has made very good progress. She was able to stand, write and return home, and doctors said they have seen minimum signs of brain damage.

At age 11, Malala began to write a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC about life under the Taliban in the Swat Valley. After Pakistan's military ousted the militants in 2009, she began publicly speaking out about the need for girls' education. She appeared frequently in the media and was given one of the country's highest civilian honours for her bravery.

Her story has captured global attention for the struggle for women's rights in Pakistan, and in a sign of her reach the teen made the shortlist for Time magazine's "Person of the Year" for 2012.